Karen,
I wish I could give you a hug. I'm so glad you wrote back. And you were not at all boring -- the road you have been on is clearly so painful that I have admiration for your strength. (It's still in there, somewhere.)
I find the age at which all this started interesting, because it's the age at which so many women are entering or are in perimenopause or menopause. While dizziness is not a symptom, anxiety and mood disorders are. At any point along the way has a good gynecologist given you a checkup and even checked your hormone levels? Are your periods still regular?
When you first started having your dizziness, did doctors test you for Muniere's disease? Did they determine that you just have vertigo for no reason? (A hint: When you are having a really bad vertigo day, try taking a half-dose of meclazine, which is sold as Bonine, a motion sickness medicine. You don't want to take it all the time because you'll become dependent on it, but it helps hugely on a bad day.)
I see in your profile that you also have fibromayalgia. How long ago were you diagnosed with it? Was the onset of that before or after the dizziness and/or the anxiety?
You want your life back. I so, so understand that. I know what it's like to feel that you are living separate from the world. It's good that you make yourself go out. Karen, I think you must try the therapy thing again. You need a therapist who specializes in anxiety. They can help you change your world, bit by bit. Even if you can only afford to go once a month, that session will give you hope and things to work on in the time in between. Is this a possibility?
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Karen,
I wish I could give you a hug. I'm so glad you wrote back. And you were not at all boring -- the road you have been on is clearly so painful that I have admiration for your strength. (It's still in there, somewhere.)
I find the age at which all this started interesting, because it's the age at which so many women are entering or are in perimenopause or menopause. While dizziness is not a symptom, anxiety and mood disorders are. At any point along the way has a good gynecologist given you a checkup and even checked your hormone levels? Are your periods still regular?
When you first started having your dizziness, did doctors test you for Muniere's disease? Did they determine that you just have vertigo for no reason? (A hint: When you are having a really bad vertigo day, try taking a half-dose of meclazine, which is sold as Bonine, a motion sickness medicine. You don't want to take it all the time because you'll become dependent on it, but it helps hugely on a bad day.)
I see in your profile that you also have fibromayalgia. How long ago were you diagnosed with it? Was the onset of that before or after the dizziness and/or the anxiety?
You want your life back. I so, so understand that. I know what it's like to feel that you are living separate from the world. It's good that you make yourself go out. Karen, I think you must try the therapy thing again. You need a therapist who specializes in anxiety. They can help you change your world, bit by bit. Even if you can only afford to go once a month, that session will give you hope and things to work on in the time in between. Is this a possibility?
June 1, 2010 - 8:29amThis Comment
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